Different teams
by Micronime
Summary: Iruka decided to switch two Genins, both have similar skills, abilities and personalities; the end result should be the same, right? Wrong! Main pairing NaruHina
1. A fox for a dog

By Micronime

Naruto belongs to Masashi Kishimoto.

Different teams

Chapter 1: A fox for a dog

* * *

Iruka was walking in the corridor that would take him to one of the academy's many classrooms. Today, unlike most of the other day, he wasn't going to be giving class to the boys and girls that hoped to become shinobi. Those that waited for him were all graduated Genins from the last exam and they were waited to be assigned to a team. This year, it had taken more time than usual to decide on the team mostly because many exceptional cases were in their group. Several of them came from long line of shinobi families, like the Nara and the Inuzuka, a few had an inherited bloodlimit, Hyuuga and Uchiha as the most famous, and finally one of them had a demon sealed into his belly. 

Another reason why it had taken longer to decide on the team was that Iruka had submitted a change in the last few days. A simple switch of a Genin between two teams, but the Hokage had wanted to know his reasons behind the change. The Hokage had been surprise, but please when he had heard his reason and had finally accepted the switch and that he would see to any complains that might come from the family of the other two Genins on the team. Complains that Iruka expected to come from at least one of the families and knowing them he was quite happy that the Hokage would answer to them and not him. It was one of the reasons why he had hesitated for so long before proposing the change.

Iruka finaly reached his destination and opened the sliding door that would take him in front of the classroom where all the new Genins were waiting. As he entered, he noticed that the room was unusually quiet as if he had just missed some kind of event. He quickly looked through the class until his gaze fell on the usual suspect, Uzumaki Naruto. The blond boy had his head resting against the desk in front of him; he looked quite dirty and beat up. Iruka quickly came to the obvious conclusion that Naruto had pulled one of his famous pranks and had been beaten as a result. Choosing not to pursue the subject he coughed to attracted the attention of the few children that not yet noticed his arrival.

"Beginning today your are all real shinobi", he told them, "but you are still rookie Genin" he added. "The hard part has just started", he announced them.

He could some of them looked back at him sure of themselves, other looked dejected and one of them even replied "Troublesome". For some of them it would be the last time he would see them at the academy, but most of them would come back after having failed their first test as Genin.

"Now… you will soon be assigned duties by the village", he said, "So today we will be creating the three man teams…" he announced them, "and each team will have a Jounin sensei."

Of course, all the Jounin had been consulted before the teams were formed so that they would decide what kind of team they would have. Some wanted Genins that were strong at ninjutsu while other preferred genjustsu.

"You will follow that sensei's instructions as you complete the assigned duties", Iruka said.

He then prepared for the reaction his next sentence would surely cause.

"We tried to balance each team's strength" Iruka announced.

"WHAT!", was the reaction from most of the class.

Most of them had probably thought that they would be choosing their own teammates, but that would be very bad in general as some team would be very strong while other would be horribly weak. Not only did the team have to be formed with people of various level of strength, but they had to contain Genins with different skills and abilities. Even a team formed of the best Taijutsu specialists would be defeated by a well balanced team. Most graduate had no idea how to form a balanced team while other would probably prefer working alone.

Once the classroom had regained its calm he started naming the Genins forming the teams. He sometime had to wait before continuing because some of them were quite vocal about either their joy or deception, although they were mostly girls complaining that they were not in the same team as Uchiha Sasuke. Most of the girls in the class had a crush on the young Uchiha, who for his part seemed to be annoyed from all the attention he get from the girls. Most of the guys of the class didn't like him for the exact same reason, first of that group was Uzumaki Naruto who considered Sasuke his personal rival.

"Next, team seven Haruno Sakura… Inuzuka Kiba", the pink haired girl that was Haruno Sakura was still looked at him waiting for the name of her last teammate, "and Uchiha Sasuke", Iruka said the third name.

The reaction was nearly instantaneous, Sakura nearly jump from her seat from the joy, completely obvious that nearly every other girls in the classroom were sending death glare her way. Naruto, who was sitting right beside her, looked really disappointed since he had a crush on the Haruno girl for long time now.

"Next, team eight Hyuuga Hinata", called Iruka.

"H-Hai", was the girl's timid answer.

The girl was known for being shy from a lack of self-confidence and because of that she had a harder time succeeding like the other students. She came from an old and powerful clan that looked down on failure, as if the shy girl had not enough pressure; she was also the heiress of the clan. Iruka had hoped that one of her teammate might help with her personal problem, after all she seemed to look up to him unlike the Inuzuka boy.

"Uzumaki Naruto" Iruka called next.

The boy didn't move much upon hearing his name, he simply raised his hand a few inches from the desk as a sign that he had heard. He was the number one loudest and hyperactive shinobi of Konoha, and also the village greatest prankster. Iruka hoped that he might pass on some of his confidence to Hinata and maybe the Hyuuga girl could calm down Naruto, but Iruka didn't hold his breath on that one. Putting them together was either going to make them grow or make them worst, there was no middle ground like everything that involved Naruto.

He gave a brief look at the Hyuuga girl and noticed that her face was covered by an enormous blush and that she was twiddling her index fingers. Irka had noticed that the girl often fell back into that habit when Naruto was involved. He knew that the girl more than looked up to Naruto and he was concerned of what her family would do when they find out. One evening, he had caught her staring at Naruto in rapt attention when he was doing some extra training at the academy, blushing furiously and to afraid to approach him. Iruka hoped he was doing the right thing for the two of them.

"and Aburame Shino", Iruka called the last name of team eight.

The Genin was another one that he hoped that would have appositive effect on Naruto. Aburame Shino was calm and collected two things that the other boy was not. Iruka hoped that the Aburame boy would be able to keep Naruto out of trouble, some of the time, but from what he observed during the academy, Shino was unlikely to take the leader role among the Genins of the team. That would leave Naruto as the leader, which worried Iruka and it was another reason why he had hesitated so much before submitting the change. If he would have left Naruto part of team seven as they had originally planned, Sasuke would have surely took the role of the leader after a short power struggle between him and Naruto.

After that Iruka quickly called out the name of team nine, the last team that would be formed this year, and prepare himself to address the Genins one last time, before leaving.

"I'm going to introduce the Jounins senseis in the afternoon", he announced "Meeting adjourned until then!"

A few Genins, cheered, happy that they would now start on the path of being a shinobi, blissfully unaware that several of them would be sent back to the academy. Iruka quietly left the classroom from the same door he had entered.

* * *

Naruto was sulking on one of the platform on the roof that the student often used to gather at lunch during the sunny days. He still was a bit disappointed about not being in the same team as Sakura, but his mood was mostly due to that she seemed very pleased to be in the same team as Sasuke. A few minutes earlier, he had seen her walk outside the academy and looked for Uchiha so that they could eat together. He looked up at the sky and noticed Sasuke eating alone on one of the upper floor of the academy. A grin appeared on his face as a devious plan formed in his head. He was about to make his way toward the lone boy, when something stopped him. 

"Ano… Naruto-kun", said a small and timid voice coming from behind him.

He was so surprise that he nearly fell down the roof, but he was able to grab a nearby railing. Now, no longer in danger of falling down he took a good look at the one that surprised him. It was a dark haired girl that Naruto quickly recognized as Hinata; a shy, dark, weird girl who always looks away when he look at her, like she was doing now. They were also now part of the same team if remembered correctly from Iruka-sensei had said earlier. Looking behind her he noticed that she was not alone, their other teammate Aburame Shino, a guys that he didn't know a lot about, was also there. Naruto wasn't good with the silent type of guy like he was.

After a while, he realized that they were waiting for him to say something. Naruto could already feel that he would have a hard time getting use to his new teammates.

"What is it, Hinata?" he asked the shy girl.

The girl blushed even harder while looking at her hands and Naruto noticed that she kept pushing her index fingers together.

"Ano… I-We-we were wondering i-if…", Hinata started, baldly stuttering, "if you w-would join us for lunch s-since were in the same t-team" she finished.

He was about to refuse and proceed with his plan when he realized something important… well, other than that girl was terminally shy, that is. It was the first time that anyone had asked him to join them for lunch… or anything else for that matter. Of course, he hanged out with a few students at lunch, like Kiba and Shikamaru, but they only tolerated his presence, they never asked him if he wanted to eat with them. It was the first time that anyone wanted to be with him.

A large smile suddenly took shape on his face.

"Sure!", he answered, his joy apparent in his voice.

His answer seemed to surprise Hinata so much that looked directly at him, her mouth slightly about as if he had expected him to refuse her offer.

The rest of the lunch period was spend with Naruto constantly speaking and trying to get his new teammates to talk, but Hinata could only stutter a few words and Shino nearly never said more than four words sentences. It was going difficult for Naruto get used to his new teammate, but for some reason he didn't mind that much.

* * *

Yuhi Kurenai arrived along with several other Jounins at the academy; they were, after all, here for the same reason. They were to be the senseis of the newly formed Genin teams, but for her it was a bit different. It was the first time that she would be doing this as she had been recently promoted to the Jounin rank. When she had been contacted to know her preference on what type of Genins she would want in her team, she had simply opted for a balanced one, even though she was specialized in Genjutsu. 

She had expected them to assign her a team that was of average strength, skill and abilities, but she had been quite surprise when she was summoned by the Hokage early this morning. That was when she had learned which Genins were to from the team: Hyuuga Hinata, Uzumaki Naruto and Aburame Shino. None of them could be called ordinary; the girl was the heiress of a powerful clan and possessed a bloodlimit, one of the boy had powerful demon sealed in his belly, while the other had insects using his body as a nest. To say that this was not was she had initially expected would be an understatement and not a small one.

The third Hokage had insisted that they would visit Uzumaki's apartment while he was at the academy. Before today she never gave any thought about how the container of the Kyuubi, but it was far from what she had seen. It was a mess, dirty cloths lying everywhere, food left on the table and the garbage bin nearly overflowing with empty instant ramen box and an out of date milk carton. It looked like the house of a bachelor man, not somewhere a twelve years old boy should live. She felt a bit ashamed of his living condition even if she was not directly responsible of it.

When they had left the apartment it was nearly time for her to go at the academy. She nearly didn't have the time to eat lunch before making it here. The group of Jounins had now reached the classroom where the Genins waited inside. A Chuunin, Umino Iruka if she remembered correctly, welcomed them at the entrance of the classroom.

"Good you are all here, except for Hatake-san", Iruka said, "but the Hohage warned me to expect that."

Some of the Jounins snickered at this, Hatake Kakashi was well known among the Jounins for two things: having copied over a thousand jutsus with the Sharingan and always being late. Kurenai didn't envy the Genins that would train as they would probably spend most of their time waiting for him to arrive. She knew that he was one of the strongest Jounin, but she seriously doubted his skills as a sensei.

Without any further waiting, he opened the door to the front of the classroom and invited them to enter. The Jounins all lined up in front of the classroom and when the last one had entered the Chuunin closed the door.

"Class", Iruka said to get the attention of the whole class, "I will now introduce you to the Jounins that will be your sensei."

The introductions were quickly made, if it could be called that, the Chuunin told the number of a team and the name of a Jousin. The Jousin would make a sign, either taking a step forward or raising an arm, so that the Genins would be able to differentiate them. As for the Genins they were to rise from their seat, so the Jounins would know which of them belonged to their team; that was unnecessary as they had already read their file which had a picture of them… except for Naruto's which had a black square where the picture should have been and had 'pending re-take', written in it.

When Iruka had introduced the last Jounin present, a pink haired girl raised her hand to get the attention of the Chuunin.

"What about the Jounin for team seven?", she asked without waiting for Iruka to ask to speak.

"Your sensei his late", he said in an apologizing tone, "His name is Hatake Kakashi", he offered to the girl, "and until he arrives I ask you three to wait here"

After a few seconds to see if there was any more question for him, Iruka then walked to front of the classroom.

"After I dismiss you, go to your sensei they will tell you what to do", the Chuunin said, "To all of you I wish good luck", he added, "To your duties, dismiss"

* * *

Once the three Genins had reached her at the front of the classroom, and Naruto stopped asking what they were going to do, Kurenai lead her team out of the classroom, leaving it completely empty except for the three Genins of team seven. She took them on one of the roof of the academy building and she asked them sit on one of the railing. Naruto was the first to sit right in front of her and the other two sat beside him, although Hinata had hesitated before doing so. 

"I believe, better introduction are in order", she said, "I will start, my name is Yuhi Kurenai, I have been recently promoted to Jounin and you are the first team of Genins I have to train", she told them "I hope we will all do well in the future, so who is next?"

She did not have to wait long.

"Me! Me!", excitedly cried out Naruto, "My name is Uzumai Naruto.", he said "I like cup ramen", he told them

Kurenai now knew that it was not only by necessity that nearly only eat ramen.

"What I like even more is the ramen restaurant where Iruka-sensei takes me sometime. What I dislike is waiting three minutes for the cup to cook", he added to his introduction.

At that moment she started to seriously wonder if he only thought about ramen.

"My dream is to surpass all of the Hokage! And then have all the villagers acknowledges my existence!", he nearly yelled.

Kurenai raised an eyebrow in surprise from hearing this, from what she was told, nearly everyone hated him in the village and all he wanted was to be acknowledged by them. It struck her as odd since most people in his situation would probably want to get back at them, that why she thought he kept playing pranks on everyone.

"and for Hobbies… Pranks, I guess", he added as if it was an afterthought.

The Jounin sweat dropped at Naruto choice of hobby; the boy that had pulled more pranks than the rest of student at the academy put together was doing it simply because he was bored! All that the village would have needed to prevent Naruto onslaught of prank would have been to assign some to keep him occupied. She then realized that nobody would have wanted such a job… or couldn't have been trusted to do it, since many would have used the opportunity to kill the boy. She had heard that some Chuunins and Jounin of the 'search' party for Naruto when he had been fooled into stealing the scroll of forbidden seal had really intended to kill him if they had found him.

"Next", the Jounin said while hoping that next one would not be another problematic case.

"My name is Aburame Shino…", he said in monotonous voice, "I like… insects… I dislike… people that don't like insects", he added.

Kurenai was starting to wonder if Naruto's obsession over ramen wasn't all that bad.

"My dream is… to increase the variety of insects that my clan raises", "My hobbies… gathering insects",

"Wow!", exclaimed Naruto gaining the attention of everyone, "That the longest I ever heard him speak!"

For some reason, Kurenai had the feeling that Shino would stay single for a long time if his center of interest didn't change in the coming years, although she was pleased that Naruto did not seem to share his interest for insects. She then turned her attention to the last Genin hoping that interests were somewhat more 'normal'.

"It's your turn", she simply said to the shy girl.

"Ano… My n-name is Hyuuga Hi-Hinata", stuttered the small girl, "I l-like my family", she added and eyes diverted toward Naruto, but looked away when she saw him looking back, "I d-don't like t-to disappoint t-them"

Kurenai was glad that at least one of her Genins seemed to have some normal and healthy interest. She could not tell how much of the stuttering was caused by close proximity to Naruto or the fact she had speak while everyone listened. The boy had no idea he was making the girl nervous, so nervous that she would have thought that the girl knew about the demon fox… if it wasn't for the way she kept blushing. Kurenai could deal with the love-sick girl, but having Naruto totally obvious to the girl's feelings would make thing easier.

"My d-dream… is that my f-family a-accept m-me", said Hinata, her voice barely louder than a whisper, "Hobbies… I d-don't have a-any"

It would seem that the girl had some serious problem with her family and was more like Naruto than she would have first thought. The main difference was the way they choose to deal with their situation; Hinata was quiet and out-of-view, while Naruto was loud and flashy. After a quick look toward the blond boy, she could tell that he had arrived to a similar conclusion. It would be interesting to see how this developed.

"Now that the introductions are out of the way, I will tell you of our first duties that we will have tomorrow"

"Yay!", excitingly shouted Naruto "Duties! Duties! What kinds of duties!"

Kurenai could help but smirk at the boy antic, knowing well enough that his cheerfulness would soon drop once she was done explaining. Naruto was a nice kid, but hyperactive personality was sure annoying after a while.

"We will be doing something just the four of us", she said.

"What! What!", asked Naruto all exited.

Before answering, she looked at the other two Genins that had still to say anything since their short introduction, wondering if they will ever have a chance to speak with Naruto around.

"Survival training", she simply said.

"Survival training?", repeated Naruto intrigued.

She could tell that the other two Genins were also taken aback that their first duties would be training, she could see it in their eyes, well for Hinata anyway while for Shino it was more of a general feeling she get from him since he was wearing sunglasses.

"I will be your opponent, but it will not be normal training, its more like a test", she clarified.

She raised her hand in time to stop Naruto from asking the first obvious question that came to his mind.

"Only about one third of the academy's graduates pass this test", The Jounin said, "If you fail this test you will be sent back at the academy."

"What the hell!", cried out Naruto, disbelieve clear in his voice, "But we worked so hard…", he said while looking at her straight in the eyes, "Then what was the point of graduating."

She remember back when she, like them, had just graduated and she had a similar reaction… but not quite that loud. It was difficult to accept that you might have to go back to the academy, because of a single failure; many decide to give up being shinobi after failing.

"The academy taught you the basic skill you will need to become shinobi", said Kurenai, well aware of the important purpose of the test, "and tomorrow test will tell us if you know how to use them"

Being a shinobi was more than just knowing how to throw shuriken and performing jutsus, one of those things was to be aware of the only rule: there is no rule.

"Uhh… What!", exclaimed Naruto.

"Tomorrow, you will be graded on the training field", she said ignoring the blond "Bring all of your shinobi tools", Kurenai told them while standing up, "I would also recommend not eating breakfast or you'll throw up"

Being hungry often made them more desperate for the 'price', but was a good way to find out if they could figure out the real goal behind the test.

"The details can be read on this printout", she said as she handed each of them a sheet "Don't be late tomorrow"

Kurenai then quickly left the roof in a cloud of smoke before the Genins, Naruto mostly, could ask anymore question. She looked at them from one of the nearby where she was hidden, to see how they would react now that they were alone. Kurenai was surprised to see Naruto give the other two some kind of pep talk, on how they were going to pass and he was going to become Hokage. The kid was amazing if a bit loud; nothing seem to kept him down and he would his best to cheer up those around him.

The Jounin looked as each one left the roof to prepare themselves for what was waiting for them the next day. Kurenai didn't have the team she had expected, but she was quite content none the less. Although, she hoped that Hinata and Shino would speak more and Naruto less, a lot less. From what she saw he seemed to be a nice guy, but his high-pitched voice was seriously getting on her nerve.

End Chapter 01

* * *

I hope you enjoyed.  
Please review 

Author's notes:

I know this as already been done, but I wanted to do it in my own way. I seen a few where Hinata replace Sakura and keep the team dynamic quite similar. (Up to the second part of the Chuunin exam Sakaru don't do much in the team IMO). I though it would be interesting to see Naruto in a team with two different teammates and a very different sensei.

About Kakashi, I know to some people it will seem like I did some Kakashi-bashing. The true is that I don't see him as such a great sensei : he's always late, he rarely seem to train them (we see him train team seven twice: Tree climbing and the Chidori). I intend to have Kurenai be a very different sensei.

What about Naruto and Sasuke rivalry? It will still be there, just a bit different; after all Naruto need it to become strong (IMO) and I don't see him switch it to Hinata or Shino.

I won't just retake all the same events of the series and redo them with Naruto and team eight going through the same missions has team seven had. The same main events will still occur, but they will happen differently and might result in a different outcome (better/worse). Example: Orochimaru vs. Team seven in the Chuunin exam: How will team seven fares without Naruto?

Author's unanswered question:

About the test, there is one thing I always found odd: the 66 failing rate. How can it be set in stone? Kakashi just decided that team seven had passed without consulting anyone! What if one year more than three teams had been good enough to pass, what would happen?

What up next?  
How will the test go?  
Will they pass?  
Will they get the bells?  
Will Naruto finally shut up?  
All that and more in:  
Different teams:  
Chapter 02: Survival training


	2. Survival training

By Micronime

Naruto belongs to Masashi Kishimoto.

Different teams

Chapter 02: Survival training

The sun had rose less than an hour ago and everything looked peaceful in Konoha, but there was a lot of activities going in the village. Most of those involved in those activities were shinobis, which were either patrolling, on their way to a mission or coming back from one. Uchiha Sasuke was part of the second group and his mission was to pass a test that would determine if he remained a Genin or if he would be send back to the academy. The most unpleasant part was that he had met his Jounins senseis and he could not decide which would be the worst outcome.

He jumped from the rooftop he was on to the next, a mean of travel that helped him avoid all of those annoying fan girls, but there was one that he would not be able to avoid: Haruno Sakura, they had ended up in the same team. Sasuke could only think of one Genin that would have been worst than her in the team: Uzumaki Naruto, although Inuzuka Kiba wasn't far behind. Both were loudmouthed arrogant idiot, but at least Kiba could perform the basics jutsus. Although, the other idiot had succeeded in becoming a Genin; even if he failed the test. Not that Sasuke cared since they weren't in the same team.

"SASUKE!", he heard a high pitched voice scream, for a split second he feared that a fan girl had found him, but he quickly recognized the voice and wished it had been one.

A blue eyed blond boy wearing a bright orange jumpsuit landed next to him and ran beside him; Sasuke increased the pace. He had no idea how anyone could consider themselves a shinobi when they were giving away their location with their constant screaming and wearing cloths that could be seen a mile away; a clown maybe, but not a shinobi. Sahura wear a red dress most of the time, but at least she know to keep quiet.

"HEY! SASUKE!", the blond yelled again at the top of his lungs.

Not only had the idiot matched his pace, but he could still scream at him as if he wasn't putting any effort into doing so. This reminded Sasuke that was not just a loudmouth arrogant idiot dressed in orange, but that he was a HYPERACTIVE loudmouth arrogant idiot dressed in orange.

"What do you want, dope?", he said in a tone that showed his displeasure, a tone that he used that very often.

"Don't call me that!", yelled Naruto, "After all, I'll pass this test while you will go back to the academy!"

"Yeah, right like that going to happen", Sasuke replied under his breath.

Sasuke jumped from the rooftop to the one across the street hoping that the blond would stop following him. He had done barely four steps on the other roof that Naruto jumped right behind him.

"Just you watch my team going to be the best there is!", Naruto yelled.

"Not as long as you're in it", to tell the truth he didn't know much about Naruto's teammates, but they most likely couldn't compensate for having the blond in their team. After all, Naruto had been the dead-last at the academy.

There was a few seconds silence between them and Sasuke hoped that it meant the blond had run out of things to say.

"Eh Sasuke!", Naruto said quietly, barely loud enough for Sasuke to hear, "Do you know where the training area fourteen is?"

"North East corner of the village, past the old temple", Sasuke replied without hesitation, he had, like most student at the academy, learned the general layout of the village.

"Ha! Ha!", Naruto laughed loudly, but Sasuke could tell it was forced, "I knew it, bye then", the blond Genin said before jumping in the general direction that Sasuke had given him.

"Dope"

* * *

As he ran, Naruto thought back to his current predicament, not taking in consideration that he was running late to a training exercise that would determine his future as a Genin, his situation was not all that much better. The survival training was really a test that he knew virtually nothing about other than his opponent was going to be Kurenai-sensei and it would involve fighting at some degree since she had told them to bring their weapons. He hoped that he would that he wouldn't't screw up like he usually did and be send back at the academy. 

As he cleared the old temple rooftop toward one of the trees, Naruto hid self-doubt under his determined expression. Whatever the test and whatever the difficulties he would not back down. Now, if he could only make it on time. He jumped from tree to tree until he finally reached the clearing that was the training area fourteen. It wasn't much, a few large trees stumps, some target for shuriken and kunai and a small lake. The whole thing was, of course, surrounded by trees. Naruto noticed Kurenai-sensei and his teammates standing by the lake and he covered the distance separating them a fast a he could.

"Did I… made it… on time?", he asked between several large gulp of air.

He looked at the Jounin hoping that she wouldn't tell him that he failed because he arrived late.

"Barely", she simply answered as she looked at the clock that was placed on one of the stump, "next time try leaving sooner."

For all answer Naruto vigorously nodded, but he would have jumped of joy if he was not so out of breath.

"Now that everyone is here I will explain your task", Kurenai-sensei announced while showing them two bells, "You have until noon to take theses two bells from me", she explained, "if you don't have a bell by noon you won't get any lunch and I will tie you up to one of those stumps."

Upon hearing those words, all three Genins' stomachs choose that moment let them know that they had yet to eat their first meal of the day. Naruto was more than a little upset by the Jounin's devious plan and he had thought she was a nice person since she didn't look at him like most of the villager did.

"Those that do not get a bell will also fail", the Jounin added, "I don't need to remind you that failing here mean you will be sent back to the academy."

Naruto would have asked her why there were only two bells, but he was still winded from running across the village.

"Ano…There are two bells, but there are three of us", asked Hinata, her voice barely loud enough to be heard.

"That mean at least one of you will be send back to the academy", Kurenai-sensei said as if it was a simple matter, "Also, you must come at me without holding anything back or else you won't succeed."

"But we might hurt you… or worse!", Naruto exclaimed.

He might be upset over her fooling into skipping breakfast, but Naruto had no intention to harm her.

"You should worry more about your own wellbeing than for your opponent", she told them before adding "I will not harm you if I can help it, but most of your opponent you will face won't be as considerate."

She gave all a brief look, as if they had understood her point and once she seemed satisfied she tied up the belt to one of the large band of cloth that made up her outer layer of clothing.

"All set", she said, "Ready… START!"

* * *

The test had started a few minutes ago and nothing had disturbed the stillness that currently reigned in the training area. After the signal was given, the three students had been quick to hide, but their sensei had opted to stay in plain sight and stand in the middle of the clearing, obviously baiting them to attack her. 

Naruto was hiding in a tree, while trying to figure some kind of strategy to get a bell, but all of them involved taking the Jounin head-on, alone or with several clones. Even if she said that they had to fight her without holding back, Naruto would rather find some other way to get the bell, but most of his jutsus were about overpowering his opponent. Except for the Henge no jusu, but he doubted that a male version of the Sexy no jutsu would work on her. Naruto kept looking at the Jounin hoping that some idea might come to him.

* * *

Hinata was hidden in one of the bush surrounding the clearing and she was observing the Jounin standing still in the center of it. Hinata had been thinking about the test and was perplexed about it. She knew that there was no way that a Genin could defeat a Jounin alone, but the goal seems to push them to do just that. The was also the failing rate of the test: it was of two out of three yesterday, but today it had dropped to one out of three. Could it be that the Jounin made a mistake? Hinata didn't think so, but it would mean that Kurenai-sensei had purposefully lied to them. Why would she do that? Was it part of the test? 

She kept looking at Kurenai-sensei hoping to figure out what was really the objective of the test.

* * *

Kurenai looked at the surrounding evaluating the hiding spots of the three Genins and was satisfied with their choice, as she not looked for them she might have missed them. All she had to do now was to wait and she what they would do, although she did not expect any kind of teamwork on their first try; the test was meant that way. The goal given made it look like you had to succeed by your own mean, but it didn't take long before they realized it was nearly impossible. 

Nearly forty-five minute had passed and none of them had made an offensive move yet, but she expected one of them, Naruto most likely, to try to fight her alone for the bell soon. Suddenly, someone landed a short distance from her, but what was surprising was that it was not one of her Genins; it was Uchiha Sasuke.

"What are you doing here?", she asked the Genin suspiciously; after all he was supposed to be with his own Jounin.

"My team's Jounin is late and I was wondering if it was part of the test", he took a look behind her toward the area she knew that her three Genins were hiding before adding,"but it doesn't seems so."

She was slightly surprise that he could so easily find out where the three Genins were hiding, but it was possible since he was the best at everything back at the academy. Although she could not understand why a Jounin would arrive late, unless… Unless if that Jounin in question was Kakashi and if she remembered correctly the young Uchiha had been placed on Kakashi's team, but there was still one thing that was left unanswered: the training area assignation was not accessible to Genins. He could not have known that they were here unless he had chosen a training ground at random, which she doubted. But if it was one of Kakashi's Genins and not one of her own using henge, she would have a few words with the Jounin at the end of the day.

"How did you know there was another Genin team here?"

"On my way to my training area this morning, I encountered Uzumaki Naruto", he said smirking, "The dope had no idea how to get here."

She didn't have to debate long on the veracity of his statement as a confirmation was given… in the form of a kunai thrown at Sasuke. Without hesitation she threw one of her own kunai to deflect Naruto's. She was about to yell at Naruto for doing something like that when she noticed a second kunai that was hidden in the first's shadow. Without any time left to deflect it she opted on pinning the young Uchiha to the ground. Before she could even get fully back up on her feet something else happened.

"No wonder Sasuke's fan girls didn't have any success with him", said a boy with a dog resting on his head, obviously an Inuzuka, "he prefer old woman!"

She couldn't believe that she was being called an 'old woman' by that Genin when she was barely twenty-five years old, but before she could reply, somebody else spoke.

"WHAT?", screamed a nearly hysterical pink haired girl, "Say it isn't so Sasuke-kun!"

Without a doubt now she had the whole of team seven in from of her; she promised herself that she would find Kakashi as soon as she was done with this test.

"Well at least now were sure that his and Naruto's kiss was really an accident", said the Inuzuka's boy, while smirking.

This time she made sure to deflect both kunais coming from Naruto, she was running out of kunai and she was now truly furious at the boy. She turned around, facing the general direction of the blond, but before she could yell at him she felt the three Genins of team seven jumping at her… Or more precisely, at the bells. She was quick enough to evade the three teens' first swipe, but she was forced to block the next.

It took her a few seconds before she realise that she was actually fighting her own team's Genins using henge to look like Kakashi's team. The kunais were probably thrown from some kind of trap that one of them activated from here. But she had been so sure that the three of them were hidden in the other side of the clearing. They must have moved when she was distracted by 'Sasuke'. Although, she was surprise that three Genins could come up with such a plan.

She moved toward the opposite side of the clearing that was now left unoccupied, planning to use Kawarami no jutsu and hide among the trees, since they did not leave her enough time to perform a genjutsu that would be effective on all three of them. She was nearly at the trees when she felt something pull at the bells and looked down. Bugs, lot of them were pulling at the bells trying to take them away, but they were firmly attached.

She barely deflected a shuriken aimed at the string holding the bells with her remaining kunai. She looked where it had come from expecting to find the remain of a trap, but instead saw Shino jumping down from a tree branch. She rolled away from their attacks, but before she could comprehend what was really going on, Hinata jumped out of the bush she been hiding in. Her way of escape cut off she was pushed back into the clearing.

While she was kept on the defensive by her five opponents she revaluated her situation. All five of the Genins were very real unless she was under the effect of a genjutsu, which she doubted since it was her area of expertise and she was pretty sure that she would have noticed the difference. It was at moment like this that she wished she had trained more in taijutsu. Could it be that she was actually fighting two teams of Genin? If it was the case, Hatake Kakashi was going to get in trouble. It was then that she realized that one Genin was missing from the group.

Where Shino's had failed Naruto's shuriken succeeded in severing the string that kept the bells attached, but the Jounin didn't care about that as much as the destination of the shuriken. She watched as if in slow motion as the iron projectile flew straight into the Uchiha chest, a look of surprise mixed with pain crossed the boy features for a second before it exploded in cloud of smoke.

"Kage bunshin no jutsu!", she realised out loud.

Kage bunshin no jutsu was Jounin level technique, which created copy of the user, but unlike the Bunshin no Jutsu clone they had a real body. She was sure that that technique was not taught at the academy. Before she realise it one of the bells flew into Shino waiting hands with the help of his bugs. The pink haired girl clone tried to grab the remaining one, but she kicked it and it disappeared into a cloud of smoke. Before she could secure the last bell, Hinata had already grabbed it and rolled away.

For a moment, they all stood still; the Genins were waiting for what came next while the Kurenai was doing a last evaluation of their performance. Naruto looked a bit afraid since he was the only one without a bell and she felt that Hinata was a close to give her bell to the blond. It was clear though, that there was only one possible outcome.

"You pass", she told them, but when she saw their confusion she added, "All three of you have passed."

The reaction of the three Genins was quite different: Hinata looked relieve, Naruto was even more confuse while Shino… didn't show any emotion.

"But…", started Naruto, "I didn't catch a bell!"

"It was never about the bells, but teamwork", she told them, "Although, I am not sure how much was planned", Kurenai said although she believe that most of their performance was done instinctively; one of them made a opening and they all worked on exploiting it, natural team-players; that was a good thing, "but you did work together to get the bells, even if it was improvised"

She looked at the Inuzuka-clone as he dropped the Henge no jutsu and became another Natuto and both of them cheered. That explained who had performed the Kage bunshin no jutsu, but it was still a very advance jutsu for a Genin, even for one as special as Naruto.

"Naruto", she said, but the neither of them seem to hear her, "NARUTO", both of them stooped running around to stand close to her. "The way you used the Kage bunshin was well planned", she congratulated him, "Something I was not expecting from a Genin"

Both Narutos put one of his arms behind their head and laughed with their eyes close, savouring the praise. If he hadn't done so they might have seen the punch that hit the top of their head.

"And this is for calling me an 'old woman'!"

* * *

When Naruto slowly came to, he felt like the time he fell on his head from the academy rooftop while trying to miss a few courses. He tried to rub the top of his head, but found out that he was tied up. When he realised that, it quickly regained his alertness and tensed up, this resulted in him hitting the back of his head with something hard and nearly knocking himself out again. 

"Well", he heard a familiar voice say, "look like you back among us."

His vision was a bit blurred from the tears in is eyes, but he could make up the general shape of Kurenai-sensei. He also realise that he was tied up to one of the stumps of the training area. He noticed some movement coming from his right and saw his teammates walking toward him.

"Hey! Kurenai-sensei", he called to get the Jounin attention, "is this still about the 'old woman' part?"

The red-eyed woman frowned for a second at the reminder of the insult, before returning to a neutral expression.

"No", she answered him, "if you remember correctly I said earlier that those that didn't get any bell were going to be tied up to a stump during lunch", she explained, "Well even though you passed, you didn't get a bell."

"Lunch!", he yelled while looking around hoping to get a glimpse of the food.

His stomach loudly reminded him that he had not eaten since the night before, which prompted some giggle from Hinata.

"You were out, while they ate it", the Jounin told him, "It seem your new teammates preferred to eat it all before you came to, instead of eating it in front of you."

Naruto simply lowered is head, feeling his stomach twist itself as if to punish him for thinking about eating.

"While you ate lunch I went to report your passing to the head office", she said with a slight trace of a smile on her feature, as if to torture him with the mention of food, "So now, I will go over your next day assignment. At 7 am sharp", she pared at Naruto while the last part, "we will meet in the courtyard of the old temple near here. Most of the morning will be dedicated to practice and training exercises. In the afternoon we will be undertaking various missions. This is how most of our daily routine will go unless a mission requires to be done in the morning. Any question?"

"When will you untie me?", he asked.

"Later", she answered him, "Any question?", she repeated, this time making sure to cover Naruto mouth this time.

It was clear to Naruto that Kurenai-sensei felt that it was important not only him talked in the team, but also Hinata and Shino. The blond Genin thought is was a good idea, since it would become awkward if he had to carry any type of conversation like he did at lunch yesterday. His common accord with the Genin was the only thing that kept him from trying to get her hand of his mouth…too hard.

"Ano", started Hinata, her voice barely loud enough for Naruto to hear her, "What will you teach us during the training exercises?"

The Jounin looked at the girl with a satisfied smile on her feature which seems to calm the shy black haired girl.

"I will teach you some basics skills in ninjutsu, genjutsu and taijutsu and sometime I will get you through exercises to improve your chakra moulding and control", she told them, "It will take some time before you are ready for more advanced training."

Naruto had hoped for some advance technique of Kage bunshin level or something of the kind. Ninjutsu and taijutsu he had learned a lot at the academy, but genjutsu was never one of his strong suit, although he had imagined a few pranks that he could pull of with genjutsu. Making one of those snobbish rich folk think that a pile of trash was actually money was one of his preferred; he couldn't wait to try it.

"What kind of mission?", asked Shino, seemingly using as little words as possible.

"At first, all the mission will be within the village", she explained, "they will range from simple task like gardening to more complex like babysitting or deliveries. They may look like ordinary tasks, but you will learn a lot on how to carry out mission."

Now that was a major let down to Naruto he had expected some kind of missions like rescuing a princess or freeing villagers from a group of bandit. It sounded like he was going to be cleaning of some other people mess instead of just his own. After answering to Shino question, Kurenai-sensei waited for a few moments hoping for another question, but it was clear to Naruto that neither of them was going to ask anything else for the time being.

"Well, that is all for today!", she told them, "Tomorrow, team 8 will officially start its duties", Kurenai-sensei took her hand away from Naruto and added, "Let's go!"

Naruto looked as Kurenai-sensei half-pushed half-dragged Hinata and Shino to get them to start moving away back toward the village. They had only walked a few meters away when Naruto caught on to the situation.

"HEY! UNTIE ME!", yelled Naruto, but Kurenai-sensei kept both Genins from turning around.

* * *

A few minutes after leaving the clearing, they arrived back at the old temple that had fallen in disrepair after years of abandon. Hinata remembered that this temple had been used in someway to defeat the Kyuubi all those years ago. She didn't know how it was used nor for what reason the villagers had decided to desert it. After all, wasn't it part a part of what defeated the Kyuubi, she couldn't fathom why they would show such a lack of respect to such a important part of their history. 

"Well then I she you tomorrow at seven", Kurenai-sensei said before disappearing in a cloud of smoke.

Hinata looked back toward the forest where Naruto was still tied up. Wondering if it would be alright to go back and untie Naruto. After all, it was nearly noon and he didn't eat anything today. She had also kept some of her own lunch in a wooden box she used to store clean bandages.

"He will be fine", Shino said surprising her.

"But…", she started, but was stopped when the other Genin showed her something he retrieve with two fingers from his sleeves.

"He probably have one of those", he said referring to the small blade no more than two inches long, commonly called 'escape knife' by shinobi. "Why don't you make sure", Shino suggested while putting the blade in her hand, careful not to cut her.

"Thank you, Shino-kun", Hinata said while putting the blade away.

The other Genin simply nodded before walking away. Wasting no more time she quickly left back toward the forest. In less time than took them to leave, she was back in the clearing. Naruto was still tied up to the stump, forcefully trying to break free. She was barely a meter away from him when he realised that she was there.

"Hinata!", exclaimed Naruto, evidently surprise of her return, "What are you doing here?"

Taking the small blade along with the remaining food of her meal she presented them to Naruto who looked at her confusingly.

"Shino-kun", she said looking at the item in her hand to avoid looking at Naruto in the eyes; she felt she would fall in a stuttering fit if she did, "suggested I made sure… that you had an escape knife… like this one", she said holding the blade.

"No", he answered, "I don't have much skill in Nawanuke no jutsu or any blade like that."

"Now," Hinata started, "you do", she added while putting the small blade in Naruto's right hand; nearly dropping it when her hand came into contact with his.

"Really! Thanks", was his reply.

He deftly manipulated the small blade so he could reach the rope with it. After a few minutes of struggle he was able to cut through it. Naruto tried to break the rope by force, but this time he focused his strength on the weakness he had jest created in the rope. After a few moments, it snapped and the rope fell limply at his feet.

"Yay!", Yelled the blond Genin while jumping around, "Thank you Hinata!", he told her once he had calmed done a bit.

"It was really Shino-kun", she replied.

Hinata then presented the former bandages box, now turned bento box, to Naruto. He took it his face showing his confusion.

"It's not much", she told him, "but it's what save from my lunch", she said while twiddling her index fingers.

For a moment his face showed surprise, but it quickly turned to happiness and it was directed at her. Before she could look away she was taken by surprise when he threw his arms around her.

"Thank you Hinata you're the best!", he told her still hugging her fiercely.

Hianta barely heard his words, lost in the sensation of being held by his arms; her mind also trying to remember the last time she had been hugged like that and unable to come up with a recent event. She didn't know how long it lasted, but it ended all too soon. She stayed nearly unmoving, still surprise by Naruto sudden show of happiness. She regained all of her sense when Naruto was cleaning the last trace of food from the small box.

He turned back around to face her and the sight that greeted her made her unable to restrain her giggle.

"What is it?", asked after looking at her in confusion for a few seconds.

"You have rice all over your face, Naruto", a voice said that cut short all of her laugher.

Standing on one of the stump was Kurenai-sensei looking at them with a stern expression. For a second, Hinata thought her heart at stopped beating; what if she was taken out of the team for this? Would she do something like tying them both to stumps?

"What are you doing here?", asked Naruto surprise evident in his voice.

"I was coming to untie you of course", the Jounin answered before turning her gaze to Hinata, "but someone seems to have beaten me to it."

Naruto moved in front of Hinata, partially hiding her from the Jounin's sight.

"I freed myself using this", Naruto said while showing the red eyed Jounin the escape blade.

"Then next time I have to tied you up I'll be more careful when searching you", she replied, probably aware that he didn't have the knife earlier.

"Hinata", she nearly jumped when the Jounin said her name, "Could you go and ask your father if I can meet him sometime before supper", the girl was surprise by the request, "I will be waiting at the academy for the answer."

Hinata simply nodded, fearing that her voice might fail her. She turned around and ran toward the village feeling both Naruto and Kurenai-sensei eyes on her back. At every step se took, she kept wondering what could Kurenai-sensei want to discuss with her father; fearing every reason she came up with.

* * *

Iruka was looking at the classroom as the last student left for their afternoon break, when heard someone entering. He quickly recognizes his unexpected 'expected visitor'. He had expected her, but not so soon; it's only been two days after all. 

"Kurenai-san", he greeted her, "You wish to discuss something with me?", Iruka asked already knowing the answer.

She passed through the doorway and closed the door behind her. From her posture, Iruka could tell that she was not in good mood.

"What exactly were you thinking putting these two in the same team?", the red eyed Jounin asked.

"Putting Naruto with team 8 was a better solution than leaving him in team 7, like originally planned", Iruka noticed that his explanation didn't satisfy her so he added, "Naruto as a crush on Haruno Sakura, who as a crush on Uchiha Sasuke. Also, Naruto and Sasuke don't get along either."

Kurenai seemed to think his explanation over for a moment, before finally accepting it. Iruka knew that the Jounin would not be convinced that team 8 current arrangements were for the best.

"Was there any other team he could have been traded with", she asked.

"Not without major rearrangement of most of the team to keep them balanced", Iruka answered.

She seems to accept his explanation far more quickly this time, meaning that she had already thought about that possibility. She started turning around as if she was leaving, but instead turned back at him.

"Tell me", she said looking at him with a piercing glare that made him uncomfortable, "did you know about Hinata's crush for Naruto, since you seem well inform in that department"

Iruka let out a nervous laugh trying to dissipate the tension he was feeling right now under the older woman scrutinizing red eyes.

"It hard not to notice since Naruto and Sakura are quite vocal about you they like", he replied.

His answer didn't seem to convince her in the slightest.

"But you knew about Hinata", it was clear in the way she said that sentence that it was not a question, but a fact.

Iruka could not find anything to say that would get him out this delicate situation and so he remained silent. His silence did nothing to lessen her current mood; quite the contrary.

"Putting Naruto with the heir of the Hyuuga is asking for trouble", she said, "but doing so knowingly that she as a crush on him is asking for a disaster! At this point, I am surprise they didn't ask for the team to be disbanded…"

"They did", he cut her short, "Some of the Hyuuga main house members went to see the Hokage directly and he refused their request."

For a second, she looked at him as his trying to reveal some information that he kept hidden.

"What did you expect from this? Are you playing match-maker with your students? Or did you just want to stir trouble with the Hyuuga? Because if…rather when they find out about Hinata's infatuation for Naruto they will look for a culprit", she said nearly out of breath.

"I thought that by putting Naruto with two Genin that are rather… composed; it might have a positive effect on him and on them", he told her, "As slight as the chance may be", he added rather more quietly,

"What is rather more probable is that I ended with a depressed girl for having her feelings rejected or two Genins too distracted by each other to perform well during missions", she told him.

There was a long pause, with the silence only broken by the sound of the academy student playing outside. Kurenai was about to leave, but before she could reach the door, something crossed Iruka's mind.

"If you're here now, that mean they passed, right?", an obvious question, but Iruka felt he needed to ask it.

"Yes", she simply answered while turning around to face him.

"If I may, how did they do?", Iruka enquired to the Jounin.

"Relatively well", she said with a feint trace of a smile, "They took the bells from me"

That last remark surprised Iruka it was rare that a team of Genin were actually able to outdo a Jounin, even if she was holding back.

"And Naruto?", he asked.

"Him", she said with some anger in her tone, which worried Iruka, "He made me furious, made a foul out of me and called me an 'old woman'", Kurenai explained, "All that within ten minutes"

"That sound like him", replied Iruka, trying not to laugh at the Jounin predicament, relieve that it was no longer his problem, "except maybe the 'old woman' part, that sound more like Inuzuka Kiba."

For some reason, his last remark seems to make her rethink something, but before he could ask about it she already turned around and exited classroom where someone was waiting for her; one of the messengers from the Hyuuga.

* * *

A few minutes after entering into the residence of the Hyuuga, Kurenai was already leaving. She had heard rumors about them and how they were uncaring about anything else but the wellbeing of their clan. She had made the assumption that they would very protective of one of their child and the way she was to be train outside the clan, even more so of their heir. She had been wrong, they only care of the clan, not of the individuals that composed it and even if that individual is the heir of the clan. 

To them, to her father even, they did not need her and thus they did not care for her. Worst, Hinata knew of all that… and for some time now. When Hinata had told them her dream yesterday, she had thought that Hinata was feeling rejected because of her clan general attitude toward her, not that she had been rejected; nearly disowned even.

She had a hard time to believe that she had been given two extremely difficult cases for her first team of Genin, but she would do her very best to train them into the best shinobis they could become. But the most difficult part would essentially to train them without them becoming dependant of her, especially Hinata. For that she felt she would need to remain as impassive around them as possible.

* * *

Sasuke was waiting, something he had done a lot today. Waiting for an idiot to leave him alone. Waiting for Sakura and Kiba to stop yelling at each other, trying to decide who should be the leader, him or Kiba. Waiting for their late Jounin instructor to finally arrive. Waiting for their meal at the restaurant to be served during the 'celebration'. Waiting for the Jounin to go get his money back at his apartment. Waiting for the same Jounin to go and give their test result to the Hokage, once he remembered he forgot to do that. 

The only good point in the whole day was that Hatake Kakashi was a descend Jounin, that could teach them a lot. If only he managed to be there on time. Sasuke made no movement when the doors leading to the Hokage office opened and Kakashi walked out. The Jounin was reading through several sheets of paper. Without looking up from the sheet he walked over the area where he had told them to wait for him.

"I got your first mission assignment and I have also the result of the other teams", he told them, "I was able to get them now since we were the last team to report our result."

"I would have been surprise if it wasn't the case", said an irritated Sakura while giving the Jounin her best 'death glare'.

If the Jounin had noticed anything he made no sigh of it. Choosing instead to keep reading the teams result.

"Team 10 did relatively well, but team 8 was a real shocker", said Kakashi.

"Isn't that Naruto's team?", asked Sakura.

"It surprising that they were able to pass, with the dope in their team", said Sasuke, speaking for the first time.

"They didn't just pass; they nearly beat the time record for passing, but they were also successful in getting the bells from their Jounin", said the Jounin and for the first time since got out of the Hokage's office.

"WHAT?", Sakura yelled in surprise.

Sasuke reaction to that piece of information might not have been as apparent or as vocal as Sakura's, but it was among the same lines. He could not believe that Naruto, mister deadlast, team had done better than his, better than any other team this year. He remembered what the idiot had told him earlier that morning, but he couldn't believe he had been right. Was it that his two teammates were that good or was it something else?

"Eh!", exclaimed Kakashi and bring Saske's attention back to the present, "Where is Kiba?"

* * *

Author's notes: 

Sorry for taking so long to post this chapter, but I had a hard time with the two scenes:

- the first scene and

- the test scene.

It took me a lot of time, writing and re-writing them in different ways, to come up with the right scene. My first few try at the opening scene wasn't good enough and it didn't involve Sasuke. But once I had written it the next scene seem to write itself. I wanted to make something different for the survival test, instead of just doing the same as in the manga, but with Hinata and Shino instead of Sakura and Sasuke. I hope you enjoyed tehm.

Also a LOT of real life problem, keeping me busy.

I really, really have a hard time with Shino… I barely know anything about him and I have read and re-read every manga he appears in. It's a lot easier with Sasuke.

Naruto is rarely seen picking a fight or fighting kunochi, the only one he seriously went against is Tsunade and it was after she insulted the title of Hokage, that why he doesn't want to fight against Kurenai like he did against Kakashi.

I take for granted that Kurenai did not know about Naruto's Kage bunshin no jutsu since most of Konoha's shinobi didn't until the third part of Chuunin exam.

Most of you have probably guessed that the old temple is where Kyuubi was sealed in Naruto. It was deserted for the same reason that Naruto was hated.

Why the heated discussion between Kurenai and Iruka? Well, simply because they care… from different perspectives.

Twice I mention upcoming trouble with the Hyuuga in as many chapters…What could it mean…

Author's unanswered question:

If the first missions a Genins are assigned are in the range of gardening to babysitting, how could Hinata ever fail them? (see the match between Hinata and Neji) She can't really be that bad, right?

What coming up in the next chapter:

- Missions of course! But also the beginning of the "The worst possible client" arc, but quite differently!

Different teams:

Chapter 03: No more boring mission!


End file.
